


Cohabitation effect

by TrissMacGyverJohnson



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Breakfast in Bed, Christmas Fluff, Cohabitation, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, Kissing, Making Out, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Gestures, Roommates, Slow Burn, resolved tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-11-24 19:56:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18169388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrissMacGyverJohnson/pseuds/TrissMacGyverJohnson
Summary: When you moved to LA to start your new work at Phoenix Foundation, your team mates Wilt Bozer and Angus MacGyver offered you to live in their apartment until you would have been able to find a place by your own. When Bozer moved in with his girlfriend Leanna, things between you and MacGyver started to change.





	1. Chapter 1

It has been three years now, that you moved to LA to start your new job at the Phoenix Foundation. You still remember how this huge and chaotic city scared you at first, and how you were certain of the fact that you wouldn’t have lasted one year in there. Luckily two of your new team mates, Wilt Bozer and Angus MacGyver, offered you to stay in their apartment, situated on Los Angeles hill, until you would have found a place by your own. At the beginning you had doubts about this _New Girl_ kind of situation: you’ve never lived with two boys but, in that moment, you had no money and no time to find another house.

They were always very kind and helpful with you: they never wanted that you paid when you ordered take away food, or that you helped them with some domestic stuff like cleaning the house, washing and ironing. You didn’t want to be treated differently, so you imposed yourself until you figured out a fair work division together. Bozer cooked, you went to the supermarket and Mac fixed things when they broke: you lived this way for two years and a half, until Bozer and his girlfriend Leanna, moved together.

From that moment things slightly changed: without Bozer’s moderating presence, you and MacGyver started to have your first fights. You both are field agents, so 90% of the times you come back tired from long mission days, in a house that is a mess.

 _“What the hell Mac, does it cost you a lot _not_ to leave all your tools around the kitchen?” “You could just say “thank you” the next time I fix the fridge”_ or _“You can defuse a bomb with tinfoil but you’re not able to cook a meal without setting our house on fire?” “If you didn’t like what I cooked you just have to say it, you don’t need to find these excuses to make me stop trying.” “What? I’ve never said that. And where are you going, now? For goodness’ sake, you’re such a child, sometimes!”_ , these are only a couple of your weekly domestic fights.

You have to admit that the blonde boy could not only have flaws: he’s already saved your life different times on the field, even risking to take a couple of bullets in your place; your late night conversations, when you both aren’t able to sleep because of a mission turned out bad, in front of a cup of tea, are some of the most sincere and deepest you’ve ever had in your life. You have that kind of intimacy in which none of you have to pretend to be someone else, in order to please the other. And how could you not notice how much he’s sweet and caring with his girlfriends? Not that having to know them makes you crazy, truth be told, it really annoys you watching them walking in and out his room. You know that it’s stupid, but it’s like they are invading your territory: you’re just talking about the apartment, of course!

 

You are always the first to wake up, in order to make breakfast for both, but this morning when you walk out your room in your oversized red plaid shirt, you use as a pajama, and messed bun, you see that Mac’s bedroom door is open and that he isn’t there. You are a little bit concerned, in your line of work you can never underestimate something unusual, but when you’re about to type his number on the phone, he opens the main door. He holds in his arms a brown paper bag from the supermarket and lays it down on the island kitchen table, once entered in the house.

“Where were you?” You say more worried than you’d like to admit.

“I’ve seen that you were out of your soy milk and I just went down to buy it”

“Why didn’t you leave me a message?”

“I thought you found them stupid; every time a girl spend the night here and you find one of those pieces of paper I write them, you always make that face” you roll your eyes thinking about how far he is from the truth “Exactly the one you’ve got right now” he points your face with his index, laughing.

You stand on your tiptoes to take the cereals’ box from the second shelf above your head, but it slips from your hand, spreading all its content all over the kitchen floor.

“I’m so clumsy, today. It’s just I woke up with an headache”

He bends himself to help you clean the floor, and smiles softly “Everything’s okay: just sit down, I am going to make your breakfast, too”

While you’re eating, one in front of the other, he says: “Do you remember, Cindy?”

“That one girl that left you with just a message? Yes, I remember her” you say sassy, involuntary rolling your eyes again: this boy has the ability to attract all the girls that are going to break his heart.

“She has invited me to her first art exhibition” You listen, trying to understand his intentions.

“And what did you tell her?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to go there alone. Y/N, would you come with me?”

Before your brain could even start to think about it, you say “Yes, it could be funny, after all”


	2. Chapter 2

Since you have nothing to wear for the exhibition, you ask Mac to accompany you to the closest mall, to buy something new. After a couple hours, you are able to spot three dresses that could do for you, but still has doubts about which one to take home.

“Mac, could you give me an advice about these dresses?”

“Y/N, you don’t need to do this. It’s just an art exhibition, you could just wear one of the dresses you got for our undercover missions: like the white open back one you wore at that casino in Serbia…”

“Do you remember what I was wearing?!” You say impressed. You’ve always thought that he would have never noticed you, neither if you’d have walked by your house naked. “I don’t have it anymore. I gave it away because I broke it fighting…”

“So let’s try these on” he suggests you.

You walk in the dressing room and let Mac sit on the pouf outside, waiting for you. You take on a long sleeveless dress and go out the dressing room. “This is the first. I think that it’s too long and the neckline is too deep” you say trying to keep it in place “What do you think?”

“I think that fits you well, but yes, maybe it’s too long. It doesn’t seem comfortable walking with it on”

You come back in and pull the curtain behind yourself. The second dress is a black glittery one, very tight on your breast, waist and hips.

“Mac, please come here” you ask from inside the dressing room “Can you help me with the zip?” You point it, barely able to move your arms. He closes it until the end, squeezing you even more in the dress. You both look at your shape in the mirror and you say: “That’s definitely a “no”. It’s not even the right size”

“I disagree, it’s perfect on your body” you feel his warm breath coming from over your shoulder “But, too sparkly for a _vernissage_ ”

“What?! I can even breath with this on!” He smiles softly and closes the curtain.

The third one is definitely the best of all. It has an heart shape neckline, and two rows of pearls as straps. It’s black, classy and sexy at the same time. You feel comfortable because it hugs well your curves, but you don’t feel like a men eater wearing it, plus, it has the right middle thigh length.

“This is the last one” you say, turning on yourself, to show him the split at the end of the skirt.

He slightly widens his eyes and says: “You are amazing with this. I think that you should buy it"

You feel your cheeks turning red: even if the cohabitation and work team made you close friends, he has never really expressed himself on your physical appearance, with this kind of comments, before; but you can’t say that this didn’t please you.

Driving back home, you feel happy and satisfied for how good it turned out this shopping day.


	3. Chapter 3

  _Don't we look good together?_

_There's a reason why they watch all night long_

_I know we'll turn heads forever_

_So tonight I'm gonna show you off_

_When I'm walking with you_

_I watch the whole room change_

_Baby, that's what you do_

A loud music welcomes you when you arrive at the place of the exhibition. Mac helps you taking off your coat and you both leave them to the boy at the wardrobe.

“Mac, have you noticed that we’ve never gone out dressed up together, before?”

“Yes, the only time we did it, it was because of some missions or Bozer’s Christmas dinner.” You laugh at the thought of your friend’s fixation for traditions.

“We’re roommates but we never really do things together”

“You’re right, we should do it more often”

“If I’d go live in another place, would you still call me?” 

He is clearly surprised by how the conversation turned out serious, but he doesn’t have to think a lot about the answer: “Of course. Y/N, you are…”

“Hey Mac!” Cindy is walking towards you, with a big smile on her face. She hugs Mac first and then you, asking if she can steal him for a moment. You shyly nod and start to wander for the huge room, looking at the pictures on the walls with a long and tight glass of Chardonnay in your hand. People are coming and, in the arch of fifteen minutes, you can’t distinguish Mac in the crowd, anymore. When you find him, you see that he’s still talking with Cindy. The conversation seems serious and she places a hand on his chest, stepping closer to him. You are pretty sure that the wave of heat pervading your body right now, is not caused by the third glass of wine you’ve finished; you feel so stupid for having come, since it’s clear that the invitation was just a poor attempt to approach him again. You just don’t understand why Mac asked you to go with him.

“I didn’t find you anymore. I’m sorry for having you left alone” he touches your back and reaches to talk in your ear, since the room is pretty crowded.

“If you came back because you think you need to look after me, I’ll save you the effort. The only thing I don’t get is why do you even invited me, if it was just a pretext to see her again. Did you want to make her jealous?”

Saying so you move between the people around you, looking for the exit. When you are almost out, you feel him grabbing your wrist, obliging you to turn on your heels.

“How can you even think that about me? I asked you to come with me because I wanted to spend time with you out of our house, since we always end up fighting. But guess what? We’re fighting here, too.” You are out of words so he adds: “I leave you the keys of my car. If you are too drunk to drive, please \\\just take a taxi.”

Still and confused, you watch him leave the building. Some minutes after, Cindy comes next to you: “Where’s Mac?”

“We were about to leave, he’s gone to take the car.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry you already have to go.” She hugs you “Still congratulations to you”

“For what?”

“Mac told me that you are a couple, now. I have to confess you one thing: when I was with him, I was so jealous about you two spending so much time together. I barely knew what he did as work, while you shared everything. This is one of the reason why I left him. I’ve always thought you would have ended up together.”

 

Once you enter in your apartment and turn on the light’s switch, you see him sit out on the bench next to the fire, with a beer in his hands. You don’t say a word to him, just leave the keys of his car on the kitchen table, and walk towards your bedroom.

“Y/N, can we talk about this?” He says going in.

“Mac, we don't need to talk about anything. You just wanted to make Cindy jealous, there’s nothing bad in this. What hurts me the most, is that you don’t even asked me if I was okay with that. You treated me like one of those things you use to save the day. You just took me and left me when you didn’t need me anymore.”

He walks closer and says: “You don’t even know what you’re talking about”

“I know it, instead. I’ve talked to Cindy and she said that you told her that we are together” you answer loud, despite of his low, deep tone of voice.

“She said that she wanted to try again with me, and I refused saying that I have feelings for you and that I don’t want to loose you.”

“No matter what you said because they’re all lies.” You dry fast the tears coming down your cheeks.

He cups your face with his hands, lying his forehead against yours: ”No Y/N, I wasn’t lying.” He makes a pause as he feels fatigue to keep talking about this topic “Did you ever asked yourself why all my relationships don’t last more than a couple of months, from when I met you? Or why do I get so angry when you don’t like what I cook or when you don’t appreciate my efforts to make you happy…?”

“No Mac, honestly I don’t know. I don’t even know why we keep forcing ourselves to live together when we constantly hurt each other”  
“Because you are the best thing happened to me in a long time: during all the best and worst moments of these three years, you were there; and I don’t want this to change. I want to stay with you and taking me care of you, and this can’t happen if we don’t live together” he whispers, then kisses you sweetly.

You feel like all the times you’ve seen him with someone else, all the jealousy you’ve felt in these years, don’t matter any more, because all his attentions, you craved so desperately, are finally yours. But, at the same time, you aren’t so ingenue to think that this can be so easy, so you, breathless, break the kiss and say: “Wait, Mac…” but before you can end up your sentence he pulls you closer, kissing you way more deeply and passionately than before.

“Mac, please, let’s go to sleep now. We’ll talk about this tomorrow” you say pulling him away from you.  
You disappear in your room even before wishing him goodnight, too afraid to loose control and not stopping yourself from doing something irreparable. You could force your mind to forget a kiss, even if the best and most addictive you’ve ever had, but you would never be able to force your body to stop wanting him, once you would have hooked up.  
You lay in your bed more confused than ever, obliged to face feelings that you’ve tried to bury for long time. Your bed never felt so big and cold without another person holding you close and warm, and the certainty that he’s going through the same of you, only makes it harder to not give in to temptation and go in the room next to yours, and let happen what both of you desire so bad. Only when you have finally decided what to do with your feelings for him, sleep wins your mind and body.


	4. Chapter 4

Next morning, when you wake up and go out of your room, you see Mac already dressed up in jeans and t-shirt, walking back and forth the living room with boxes in his hands.  
“What are you doing?” You ask alarmed by those boxes. Your first thought seeing them was that, after your “refuse” of the previous night, he decided to move in another apartment.  
“Since Matty told me that we have a free day, I thought we could use it to put on Christmas decorations” he says starting to put together the Christmas tree.  
“That’s a nice idea! I have breakfast, take a shower and I’ll be yours all day” you bite your lip, hearing your bad, bad, choice of words. Before he can turn to look at you with an interrogative face, you pretend to search something in the fridge.

 

While you are decorating the tree, Mac starts to talk about past Christmas with Bozer still in the house, so you don’t really feel uncomfortable spending time with him, after what happened. You both laugh remembering Bozer’s Christmas pastrami and how deep down you faked liking it. You lengthen yourself, trying to reach the highest branches, without asking Mac to lift you up on his back, as you always did the past years. Seeing that you need his help, without saying a word, he moves behind you and takes the little colorful decoration from your hand, and puts it on the branch you point him. When you placed the last, you stop for a moment, both contemplating if something misses.

“We can go on with the lights” you say firmly.

Once you wrapped the tree with the lights, you sit on the couch, while Mac connects the cables to the electric generator. You love watching him work on something, how his back muscles contract and relax while he’s doing his magic with hands, the groans he makes out of concentration when he’s busy with something that doesn’t want to cooperate…

“Y/N, please look if all the lights are working” he says without lifting his head from his work.

“Yes” you say, your attention caught by something way more interesting than lights.

“Why did you say “yes” if they aren’t working?” He says moving his look from the tree, to you. He looks so cute with his hair all over his eyes and his confused expression on the face. “I thought having you told to look at the tree, not at me”

“Sorry, but I don’t take orders from anybody” He shakes his head laughing and comes back to his work.

“They’re all working, now. Are you happy?” You say sassy.

“Not, yet. The star on the top misses” he says disappearing in another room, and coming back holding a ladder. He opens it next to the tree and you climb on it to put the star at its place.

When you are upstairs, your head starts spinning, so you hold yourself to the edge of the ladder and say: “I think I’m starting to suffer from vertigo, too”.

Mac leans his hands, so that you can grab them and go down a couple of steps; then when you are at an height he can easily reach, he takes you in his arms and lays you on the couch. While doing so your forehead and nose rub against each other, and he takes the chance to place a light kiss on your lips.

“Do you feel better, now?” He whispers against your face.

“Definitely better” you say smiling. He moves to get up from his position, but you drag him back down, holding his belt. “I didn’t say you could go” You wrap your legs around him, your hands slowly roaming his back and shoulders, to keep him closer as possible to you.

“What did make you change your mind?” He asks, between kisses.

"I've always had feelings for you, Mac, but at the same time our relationship is already so damn complicated, so I was afraid that you have said those things just because it was 2 am and we were half drunk, but if we would have gone on, we would have regretted it the morning after."

"That would have been easy to ignore, problem is, that I need you at every hour of the day." he kisses your neck, as to prove that what he's saying it's the truth " I know that, despite of all the fights and misunderstandings, we really fit together, so we can always try to keep it simple..."

"You're right, let's just begin a new chapter of our cohabitation in which we are finally honest about our feelings towards the other. What do you say?"

"I can't wait to start, roomie"

 


End file.
